Corona Del Mar

[Ryan10]

This is an image I took last Friday evening. This was the first time I was able to use my Reverse ND Grad, and completely love the effect, ( makes me feel like I've got Nikon and Sony dynamic range ).

It is 2 images. One image is for the focus on the very bottom rock, the 2nd image is for everything else. If I crop out the bottom rock, it's essentially a single image.


Corona Del Mar Sunset by Ryan Luna, on Flickr

 

[Ben Egbert]

This is a very nice image and if I were not a photographer, I would not see the witness of the Grad. But even a hard stop with a flat horizon leaves a bit of a blend line as here with the dark ocean edge next to the sky.

Not sure what focal length you are using here, but I have found I don't need to focus stack below about 35mm.

With all that said, this is a time image and I would be proud to have it in my portfolio.

 

[Ryan10]

It is 24mm. Posted online, you probably cannot see the bottom rock out of focus, but mentally I know it is there, so I focus stacked.

Very correct about the horizon, it does bother me a little even after trying to lighten it a bit.

 

[BarryHamilton]

Looks very nice! I like the depth in the scene, and the sky was handled nicely.
At first glimpse I kinda wish the white surf foam, not the rocks, was a little toned down, but that is a very minor issue!
Did a quick and dirty stab at what I'm thinking.....

 

[Kyle Jones]

Barry mentioned what I was thinking... I'm struggling a little with the white foam being that much lighter than anything in the sky. I think toning the whites down can help. I'd also look to see if I could pull any of that sky color into the foam. My take adds a pretty steep curve darkening and adding contrast to the foam trying to bring that out.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Ryan,

I will take a shot at it in a little while, but for now, my first thought was it was too bright in the white compared to the sky as others have mentioned. Now it's not that the white is necessarily too bright, but in contrast to the sky.

The horizon seems nice in terms of brightness here, but the above that, those other clouds seem way too dark too me. I think if you brighten the upper part of the sky, then the water layer won't feel as bright as it does.

And to second what Kyle mentioned about the white, it should be reflecting the color of the sky, for it to be such a pure white, or what feels like pure white isn't quite right.

Jim

 

[Ryan10]

Excellent suggestion that I will apply tomorrow evening and repost. Thanks.

 

[JimFox]

Well here is my attempt, I finally was able to get to it. Maybe I went too far, sometimes its hard to go backwards when it comes to color casts.

 

[Jeffrey]

So may different opinions!

Sorry, Jim, but you altered the color of the surf way to much. My idea would have been to simply lighten the highlights only of the water to get that sparkly white foam look, and to lighten the clouds as well as removing the purple tint to the dark clouds. Then a slight crop of the lower rock off the bottom. and upping the highlights on that rock as well.

 

[JimFox]

So may different opinions!

Sorry, Jim, but you altered the color of the surf way to much. My idea would have been to simply lighten the highlights only of the water to get that sparkly white foam look, and to lighten the clouds as well as removing the purple tint to the dark clouds. Then a slight crop of the lower rock off the bottom. and upping the highlights on that rock as well.

Hey Jeffrey, I could not agree with you more!

It's one of those where I know I had over done it too much, but I was rushed and wanted to get an idea of what I was saying in the thread. I am pretty sure as Ryan had captured it there originally was a color cast to the water. That white water will always reflect the color in the sky.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Ryan,

Where is your rework based on everyones suggestions? I am sure everyone wants to see how you incorporated all of these thoughts.

 

[Ryan10]

I took Barry and Kyle's idea and applied it. Very subtle, but there. I also cropped a little tighter and removed the bottom rock.

 

[J. M. Livingston]

Just found this sub-forum and when I saw Ryan had one one of his beach photos here I jumped straight here. I like the rock you cropped out in your re-edit, it really added depth to the composition. It still has depth just not to the extent of the original, though if I had not seen the original then I wouldn't even be thinking about it. Nice image either way, just my personal preference.

 

[Ryan10]

Just found this sub-forum and when I saw Ryan had one one of his beach photos here I jumped straight here. I like the rock you cropped out in your re-edit, it really added depth to the composition. It still has depth just not to the extent of the original, though if I had not seen the original then I wouldn't even be thinking about it. Nice image either way, just my personal preference.

Haha...what has been seen cannot be unseen. Thanks for the comments. If I were ever to print, I'd probably keep the bottom rock in. The bottom rock out is my Instagram version, so I can post at maximum 4x5 size.

 

[Ben Egbert]

That rework really sings, not that I had issues with the original. My problem with critique is that I am too easy, and only see the improvements after others have made them.

 

[JimFox]

Yeah, I like the edit quite a bit Ryan. Good work with that, it feels much stronger then the original, maybe it was the crop that mostly does it.